College Board SAT scores

Do kids have test overload?

Today is a big day for a certain subset of high school seniors. The reason, for the blissfully ignorant among you, is that today is the day the College Board releases online, students’ SAT scores from the test they took on October 10.

Most colleges will now accept the highest scores SAT you receive. Which is great! Except that kids feel obligated to keep reviewing for and taking the tests. Students getting scores today will be comparing them to results they achieved from tests this they took this past March and perhaps again in June. Some begin taking the practice SATs as early as 7th grade. This is a long, long process.

Today’s high school student has been subjected to more tests than the average lab rat. They may also choose to take the ACT college placement test multiple times. That’s in addition, of course, to the AP exams (only scores of 3 and above, out of a possible 5, will be considered), and the SAT II exams (which focus on specific subjects and are required for some colleges). And we wonder why kids get stressed out?

There’s also a financial component here. Each SAT registration is $45; four scores are sent to colleges for no additional fee, the rest cost $9.50 apiece. An official SAT study guide is $21.99. And so it goes for each variation of test.

Something is very out of whack here. Back in the day, all we had to worry about regarding the SATs was whether we had remembered to bring two sharpened #2 pencils. The results, in terms of sorting by ability, seemed to work pretty well. And college placement testing was a one-time event, not a marathon.

Hang in there, kids. Remember, in the big picture, applying for college is a good problem to have. Know that you are much more than the sum of your numbers.

Now get going on that application essay!

By Lee Lusardi Connor

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Tags: college board, college board sat, sat college board, sat login, sat scores, sats